Oxfam Germany has calculated how long the individual participants of the Lidl supply chain have to work to earn 4500 euros. For a worker on a plantation in Ecuador, let us call him Miguel, it takes a year. For an employee of the Lidl chain it takes less than 8 weeks. Sven Seidel, the director of Lidl, makes this amount in 5.5 hours and Dieter Schwarz, founder and owner of Lidl, in just 68 seconds.
Due to the highly complex structure of Lidl, their actual profit can only be guessed at. Oxfam Germany estimates their profit to be around 3.5 billion euros in the financial year of 2014 - 2015.
Not only plantation workers, but also, for example, cashiers in the European supermarkets often don't get a decent wage for their work. On the other side of the supply chain, however, between fruit companies and retailers, there is more than enough prosperity. We think it's very important to talk about the inequality that is deeper and deeper in today's world. According to Credit Suisse, 10% of the richest people of the planet own 89% of the world's wealth. Our counter is just an illustration of a very complex problem we should give more attention to.
Tropics. Sweetness.
Healthy snack that you do not have to pack.
Toxic chemicals, lifeless landscape, miserable salaries, health-destroying work.
The banana story also has its dark side.
Let's unpeel it with us!
A visit to a community in the midst of banana fields, where workers from the surrounding plantations work and live, has been one of the most depressing experiences on our trip to Costa Rica and Panama. The village felt like a definite trap, from which nothing but a miracle can save you. Those who claim, that leaving for a better job is easy, would have broadened their horizons here...
“My life could not possibly get any worse.“
„When you are a single mum, your children need your time. Yet time is the thing you have the least of in this job. Because when we arrive at six or seven in the evening we are tired, almost sleeping. I see my little daughter for about an hour a day. My other daughter also wants to see me but I keep telling her that I have to take care of us, and that I can not choose between them and the work, that I have to manage things... I have been working on this plantation for more than three years now. And if I should ever leave, I do not know what I would do until I could get another job. How would I take care of my family, my daughters? Sometimes you prefer to continue, to try to improve the situation bit by bit as it goes. The wage you get is not decent, but at least you can live a more or less normal life with it... it is not a fair reward, but it is some certainty at least." (employee of a plantation in Costa Rica)
"We have to work miracles with the minimum wage, to figure out how to make ends meet with it."
Meeting with the employees of this plantation that supplies fruit to a multinational company Fyffes took place in the dark, with only candles and light from mobile phones, because of a severe storm that had caused a power outage in one-half of Costa Rica. But we could not show you faces of the people we spoke to anyway. They are not just afraid of getting fired, they fear for their lives.
"Plantation manager tells us: "When the plane flies, take shelter!" But there is nowhere to hide on the plantation."
He was joking with us all the time, but he became serious when he had described us what he thinks of his employer, the Chiquita company. According to him, this company does not export the fruit, it exports the very blood of its employees. The company reduces the amount of workers on the plantation to save money – but those who remain must consequently do much more work. For the same pay, of course.
"We are trying to negotiate better conditions with the management, but no one from the company wants to meet us."
"What is happening in Costa Rica is very cruel. Extremely hazardous chemicals are not handled as they should be, and therefore they pollute the water and kill the fish and other animals.
Conter is a nematicide in the form of granules, that gets where it is not supposed to thanks to the rain. It got into the river here and killed all the fish. When the company learned about it they sent one man that is supposed to watch over the sustainability of production to remove the fish and throw them away. And he did it and said nothing about it. I have reported this incident with poisoned fish when it happened. Ever since then, the plantation management are being hostile towards me. But I will continue, and as soon as something else appears, I am not going to be silent. They persecute us for telling the true. They see it in quite the opposite way, the bad is good for them." (trade unionist and plantation worker, Costa Rica)
"Even if you get a headache from the chemicals, you have to keep working. According to them, you are just making it up."
Andrea was smiling throughout our conversation, even though she was saying horrible things about her job. When she entered the union, her partner got sacked from the same plantation because of that. And during her pregnancy, she has been working with dangerous chemicals for several days because she was scared of getting fired if she refuses to do that.
"Everyone here is scared, and so out of the whole plantation I am the only one in the union."
Toxic substances used on plantations are extremely dangerous to human health. But one can save money on protective equipment for the employees, so the companies do.
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Irregular heartbeat, but also serious mental disorders such as schizophrenia or depression (long-term consequence of intoxication).
Supermarkets know that consumers mostly remember the price for a kilogram of bananas and so they sell them very cheaply. The low prices attract customers eager for goods in sales.
Bananas, yet shipped halfway around the world, are on average about a quarter cheaper than apples, a local European fruit!
Rapidly rising costs of production and living
Stagnant, too low prices in the shops
In Panama, we saw long queues for food given out to the people by the local government, since they cannot afford the prices in shops. It was basic food, bags of rice and beans. Getting fresh, healthy and nutritious food is a problem for a large part of the population of Panama and Costa Rica. And what surprised us the most? Onions and carrots are being brought here from the Netherlands, the same way they are being brought to us in Europe. Vegetable – traveler.
"When you are poor, you must eat what you can afford."
"I have four children, three in Nicaragua and one here. The oldest daughter is fourteen, then I have an eleven years old boy and another daughter, eight years old. Here I have the smallest one, he is one year old and he was born here.
The situation in Nicaragua is different, there is no work ... we came here to seek employment and a better life, so to say. And they attack us for being from Nicaragua, they ask us why are we here and they want to hurt us.
We leave to work at 5 o'clock in the morning and return quite late, at six, seven. And for that, we get ten or twelve thousand Colón. I send a part of the money to Nicaragua, to my father. And we need around forty thousand Colón a week for the food." (plantation worker, Costa Rica)
"When I pay rent, I have no money for food."
We talked with workers of the company, that supplies Fyffes with bananas, in the backyard of their very modest house. When we peeked inside, there was not a lot to see, it was nearly empty. Locals do not have that many things.
The local dogs did not like us and they were barking so loudly that we almost could not understand each other. And probably not even monkeys resting high in the branches of trees liked us. Maybe you can recognize their typical growl on the recording.
"If you want them to pay you for work you have done, they fire you."
In many countries today, the majority of the food market is dominated by the retail chains. They have very strong and powerful position.
In fact, the supermarkets act as "gatekeepers", keeping watch over our shopping trolleys. They decide which supplier will get the opportunity to deliver its goods to the customers. Such an important role can be exploited and the retailers don't take a back seat.
They often force their suppliers into very disadvantageous business conditions, transferring the business risks onto them and forcing them to sell at extremely low prices.
The pressure to lower the prices is transmitted through the supply chain right back to its very beginning. Small growers and employees, the weakest players with little bargaining power, suffer the most.
The banana business used to be dominated solely by a handful of fruit companies. In recent years, however, more important players get their space - the supermarkets. They source directly from the producing countries more and more often.
In Britain, supermarkets sell 80% of bananas we eat. As grocery market share becomes concentrated in the hands of fewer retailers, suppliers have little option but to accept even unfair conditions.
There are places, where the banana business works differently from what you saw in previous chapters. Certification systems, independent unions and local authorities are the main characters in the more positive side of the banana story.
The vast majority of bananas from Peru are certified as being organic. Peruvians are able to grow organically because of the geographical conditions they have. The production area is surrounded by mountains, so growers do not have to worry so much about pests and diseases.
Ecuador is the largest banana exporter in the world. The local government has set the official minimum price for a box of bananas to protect farmers against the fluctuations of the market and pressure from buyers, and also seeks to ensure that the minimum legal wage is a decent one.
The country is among the five largest exporters in the world. Labor unions are traditionally very strong, with many members. But to be a labor unionist in Colombia also means to be in a constant threat of violence and murder.
In Guatemala bananas are grown in the region of Izabal on the Caribbean coast and on the opposite side of the country, on the Pacific coast. The Pacific side is very problematic because the unions do not work there due to the violence, threats, kidnappings and murders of trade unionists. The unionists on the Caribbean side are also facing violence, but on the other hand, they were able to negotiate good working conditions with their employers.
Bananas are the second most important export crop for Dominicans, and much of the produce is organic. Two-thirds of the employees are immigrants from neighboring Haiti and their living and working conditions are truly alarming. Some of them are in the country illegally, but a process of legalization started in 2015 and the necessary documents are being acquired gradually.
The Philippines are the second largest exporter of bananas in the world, but they focus primarily on Asian markets. The export bananas account for about a quarter of the production, the rest is eaten by the Filipinos themselves.
Banana exports from the African countries are growing steadily, yet the conditions on the plantations remain bad. Working hours are very long and the wages are miserable, as well as is the occupational health and safety protection. In 2015, however, an union of 4 labor organizations was formed i n the Ivory coast.
Bananas constitute the fifth largest export earner for Cameroon, exporting to Europe, mainly to France and the UK. Workers on plantations in Cameroon suffer from poor wages that don't meet their basic living costs, while working long hours in hazardous conditions, with poor protection from illness and injury. However, there is a union called FAWU that helps them to protect their rights.
UGANDA Uganda is now close behind India where most bananas in the world are grown. This fruit forms the basis of the local diet and Ugandans eat up to a kilo of bananas a day! But those are mainly salty plantains, which somewhat resemble our potatoes.
Today, more that 85% of all the bananas grown on the Windward Islands are Fairtrade certified. Thanks to this certification, local growers in the Windward Island Farmers Association (WINFA) were able to overcome challenging times following devastating natural disasters in the recent years – including hurricanes associated with climate change.
The autonomous Portuguese island territories of Madeira and the Azores supply their parent mainland country with great bananas. And the Portuguese give priority to their fruits, even though they are usually more expensive than bananas from Latin America.
The British are the greatest banana eaters in Europe, consuming almost 18 kg every year! But there is also a high consumption in the Scandinavia. Banana prices in the UK are unfortunately extremely low due to the price wars between supermarkets.
The country where you find the most varieties of banana in the world these days is India, with over 670 domesticated and wild varieties!
Since 1920, the most important suppliers of bananas to France were the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, both overseas departments of France. Even today, their bananas account for over 30% of French consumption.
According to European Commission data from 2014, the Estonian retail market is the most concentratedin all of Europe. The five largest retail groups control 76% of the food market there. Romania and Bulgaria , by contrast, have the least concentrated markets.
The duty on banana imports to the EU was the reason for a protracted dispute between the US and the EU, often called "banana wars", which were . put to an end by the World Trade Organization and a subsequent Geneva Convention of 2010. According to which the import tariffs will gradually be reduced to the level of € 114 / tonne in 2019.
The Canaries supply bananas especially to the Spanish mainland,. The Spanish consume 55% of the bananas produced in the EU countries, mainly from the Canaries". In 1888, the first shipment of Cavendish variety bananas sailed away from here to England, where it was bought by Thomas Fyffe.
Lidl, together with its sister company, Kaufland, are based here. Lidl has stores in 26 countries and with annual sales amounting to 79.3 billion euros it is the fourth largest retail group in the world and the first in Europe.
Once boats ferrying only bananas were used for transport and they had to be filled to the maximum. Today refrigerated containers are used that give the companies greater flexibility on the market, since now they are able to load just as many fruits as they need to.
Due to technical limitations, we use the classical Mercator world map which shows the countries closer to the poles as proportionally larger than the countries near the equator. As a result, Europe looks much larger than it actually is. It is better to view the map in the Gall-Peters depiction that retains the proportions between displayed territories.
Is there something I could do? For sure there is!
Fruit companies and supermarkets will change their behavior only once they feel a strong signal from the consumers, who care about the story of the stuff in their basket.
The power is yours, superhero!
The Make Fruit Fair! Campaign is calling on Fyffes – the number one importer of bananas to Europe, and among the largest global marketer for Supersweet pineapples and winter season melons – to respect the rights of workers in its global supply chains. You can support this campaign by sending an email to Fyffes here!
The majority of plantation workers continue to live in poverty and their most basic rights fail to be respected within the workplace.
Banana Link is therefore appealing for donations to allow them to continue to offer solidarity to unions to challenge the repression of the freedom to organize, educate workers about their rights, and empower their union representatives to collectively bargain for living wages and Decent Work for the men and women that grow the fruit sold on our supermarket shelves.
You can support Banana Link's Union to Union programe here.
We are online as everybody today! You can follow either international Make Fruit Fair! campaign sources, or the channels of Banana Link from the UK.
Most fairly traded bananas, pineapples or other tropical fruits carry the Fairtrade Mark used by Fairtrade International (FI), but there are also a number of established Fair Trade organizations conforming to the rules of Fairtrade International, or even going further, that do not use the Fairtrade Mark on their products, but for example the WFTO guarantee label.
The site was created as a part of the international campaign Make Fruit Fair!, that fights for a more fair and sustainable way of trade in bananas and other fruits. In the UK, the campaign is led by Banana Link.
We would love it if you would like to know more about us! Contact us at info@bananalink.org.uk!
The authors of the content are Jakub Freiwald, Stanislav Komínek, Pavla Kotíková and Barbora Trojak from the Czech Republic. Most of the photos and footage was taken in Costa Rica and Panama in July and August 2016. You can share our content for non-commercial purpose as long as you credit us (CC-BY-NC).